By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
Fenerbahce beat Trabzonspor 3-2 with a late goal Sunday to reduce the point difference with Turkish Super Lig leaders Galatasaray to five.
Fenerbahce's Brazilian midfielder Fred brought the lead to the visitors with a goal in the 42nd minute at Trabzon's Papara Park.
Trabzonspor's Democratic Congolese attacker Simon Banza leveled the score with a Video Assistant Referee (VAR)-given penalty kick in the 59th minute.
Just eight minutes later, Banza scored a second goal from another VAR-awarded penalty kick and brought the lead to the hosts.
Fenerbahce's Bosnian veteran striker Edin Dzeko equalized the score once more in the 75th minute.
At the very end of a tense and unusually long match, Fenerbahce head coach Jose Mourinho took a tumble when celebrating Moroccan midfielder Sofyan Amrabat's winning goal in the 102nd minute.
Fenerbahce are in second spot with 23 points, five points behind undefeated leaders Galatasaray, while Trabzonspor are in 11th spot with 12 points.
- 'We don't want this referee’
After the match, Mourinho criticized VAR referee Atilla Karaoglan's calls, as he gave Trabzonspor two penalties in a matter of minutes.
"We didn't see Atilla Karaoglan on the pitch. There was a young referee on the pitch, but the referee at the back was Karaoglan. He managed to become the most important man of the match from an invisible man," said Mourinho, adding: "We don't want him. We don't want this referee. We don't want him as a VAR referee, as a field referee. We especially don't want him as a VAR referee."
Mourinho emphasized his opinion that the VAR referee's decisions were not fair for his team.
"The tackle on Bright (Osayi-Samuel). Was the VAR referee drinking coffee at the time? He didn't see it? Was he drinking tea when he should have given us a penalty? Is that why he didn't see it?"
The 61-year-old also hinted that the football authorities were against Fenerbahce.
"I am angry with the Fenerbahce managers who brought me here. They told me half of this. If they told me the whole story, I wouldn't have come to Fenerbahce."
Mourinho put his laptop in front of a TV camera to protest a VAR ruling disallowing Dzeko's goal for Fenerbahce as offside during a Super Lig game against Antalyaspor in September.